I’ve had an interesting point come up in a couple conversations after Apple announced their new Watch today. $350 is not a lot of money for a nice watch. People spend much, much more on watches that do a lot less. The difference, though, is a nice watch will remain relevant and perfectly functional for as long as you take good care of it. The Apple Watch will remain relevant for 2 to 5 years, while it’s function may slightly exceed that. How many times have you pulled an old cellphone out of a drawer to find that it won’t charge anymore? How long will it be before Apple drops this first-generation device off of its support list for connecting to future devices?

I don’t mean to say that the Apple Watch won’t be worth its price-tag. For many people (maybe including myself) I’m sure it will be. What I am saying, though, is that we shouldn’t let the form fool us into seeing it in the wrong context. This is not a long-term investment in a luxury watch. I think it should be framed as the same investment we make in any other electronic device, for better or worse.

What happens when you throw a modern all-electric power train under the skin of a (hopefully replica) Cobra Daytona Coupe? If Renovo Motors is to be believed, 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds thanks to 1,000 ft-lbs of torque and over 500 horsepower.

I’ve been wondering when the resto-mod community would start throwing electric drivetrains in classic cars. The tech isn’t there yet for your average shade tree mechanic or hot rod shop to pull it off, but seeing a project like this gives me hope. Though, the choice of the Cobra shell may be much more pragmatism than aspiration. I’m curious to see how much propriety technology is under the hood. It may be that Renovo needs an exciting package to sell their motor/battery technology, and designing a car from the ground up would be a dangerous way to go about it. We’re all so critical of car design whether we’re seasoned motorheads, journalists, or the most casual driver.

Will Renovo’s next product be another retro-inspired supercar, or will they be looking to apply what they’ve learned to a more consumer and purpose-built platform? That’s exactly the path Tesla took by honing their skills with a roadster that heavily (may be an understatement) leveraged the Lotus Elise parts bin, before unveiling their own designs in the Model S and upcoming Model X.

Maybe Renovo is looking to be acquired by one of the big three, or license their tech to any manufacturer. The business side of my mind expects one of those options to be the case, but the motorhead in me hopes Renovo will become a new name in the supercar game. The dreamer in me hopes they keep with the theme of the coupe, and offer the most current drivetrain technologies under the skins of the most car designs.

Read up on the car at the Renovo Motors website: http://renovomotors.com/the-coupe/

Via @Assaf

Stream it from cbs.com here.

Check out the image gallery and read more about the house in the FAQ. It’s pretty inspirational, and makes me feel like a bit of a slob in my 1,000sqft house.

Here’s a video shot for Get Rich Slowly:

Lumus showed off a development kit for creating products around their 720p wearable display lenses: Story at Engadget

Vuzix has working prototypes of their Smart Glasses technology: Story also at Engadget

Samsung continues to show off their extremely impressive “Smart Window”: Story at SlashGear

The Vuzix and Lumus technologies work by projecting a video feed in to the edge of a piece of glass. That glass then has reflectors (Lumus uses a hologram) embedded in the glass to reflect light in to the viewer’s eye. I’m not sure how the Samsung Smart Window works, but it appears to be an adaptation of traditional LCD display technology, without a reflective or backlight backing.

Now that we have a few USB powered monitors on the market, I hope we’ll see a USB powered Cintiq soon. The Cintiq 12WX I use is far too cumbersome to be a portable solution. It needs USB, DVI, and Power connections to work.

Via TUAW: http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/01/aoc-e1649fwu-portable-usb-monitor-a-good-match-for-your-macbook/

Here are a couple illustrative videos I found this morning while looking things up.

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-26-2011.html Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:03:18 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-26-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-19-2011.html Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:11:22 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-19-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-12-2011.html Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:00:25 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-12-2011.html

Real Racingâ€s “Party Play” To Bring Split Screen Multiplayer with AirPlay Mirroring

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-5-2011.html Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:01:08 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/10/this-weeks-shared-items-october-5-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/this-weeks-shared-items-september-28-2011.html Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:03:23 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/this-weeks-shared-items-september-28-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/this-weeks-shared-items-september-21-2011.html Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:00:19 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/this-weeks-shared-items-september-21-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/platoons-art-center.html Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:03:18 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1473 Platoon’s Seoul Art Center is the most impressive shipping container architecture I’ve seen yet:

http://inhabitat.com/platoon-kunstjalle-seouls-shipping-container-subculture-art-center/

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/this-weeks-shared-items-september-7-2011.html Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:20:36 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/09/this-weeks-shared-items-september-7-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-31-2011.html Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:01:55 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-31-2011.html Continue Reading →]]>

Samsung Uses “2001: A Space Odyssey” Movie As Evidence Against Appleâ€s iPad Design

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-24-2011.html Wed, 24 Aug 2011 10:00:54 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-24-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-17-2011.html Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:53:35 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-17-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-9-2011.html Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:00:40 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-9-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-2-2011.html Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:01:35 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/08/this-weeks-shared-items-august-2-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-26-2011.html Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:03:08 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-26-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-19-2011.html Tue, 19 Jul 2011 10:01:34 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-19-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-12-2011.html Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:00:28 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-12-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-5-2011.html Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:00:31 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/07/this-weeks-shared-items-july-5-2011.html Continue Reading →]]>

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/06/this-weeks-shared-items-june-28-2011.html Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:00:05 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/06/this-weeks-shared-items-june-28-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/06/icann-allowing-any-domain-ending-for-a-price.html http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/06/icann-allowing-any-domain-ending-for-a-price.html#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:16:54 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1455 Continue Reading →]]> ICANN has announced that it will allow customers to apply for any ending to their domain name for a fee of $185,000. This means instead of www.ocell.net/blog/ I could host this site at blog.ocell, for $185k. Maybe I’m being cynical, and I’m the last to want to fight progress, but this feels a bit ‘scammy’. I have a couple thoughts on it…

1. This is going to make advertising any site not at one of the currently-standard 22 domain endings difficult. When you see something like foodwechew.com printed on a sticker, t-shirt, or bus, you know that punching those characters in your browser will give you a destination. However, throw foodwe.chew on a billboard, and I don’t think the connection is going to be immediately obvious to viewers.

2. It feels a bit like ICANN is just printing money here. $185,000 is not a small amount of money. One angle is that the extremely high registration cost will keep domain squatters from scooping up domain endings for all of the major brands and franchises. However, I don’t think this is going to keep the Fortune 500 from feeling pressured to invest in registering their properties right away. For a company as large as Sony, for example, the domains are numerous. Bravia, Playstation, Cybershot, and on. What an investment a company like GE must be looking at. And now, think of all of this money going to one organization, ICANN, all at once. That’s printing money right there.

And really, how much impact does this have in the current age of Google. I have to admit that I’ve reached a point where I typically search for the site I’m looking for, even if I’m relatively sure of the domain. At least when you want to guess, you can depend on throwing .com or .org on the end of your best guess with some relative assurance that you’re going to get something relevant. Removing that known quantity from behind the last dot feels more like cryptography a marketing opportunity, to me.

Of course, this is just the evolution of the internet. This was an inevitable step. How much longer will domain names even be a relevant part of our connected experience?

[Update]

My buddy Daniel Evanson told me that Fox has quoted the costs of buying the domains they need at $12 Million.

Read the press release at ICANN.ORG

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/06/this-weeks-shared-items-june-14-2011.html Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:19:09 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/06/this-weeks-shared-items-june-14-2011.html

– Oh, Sony…. ]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-30-2011.html Mon, 30 May 2011 10:00:11 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-30-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-23-2011.html Mon, 23 May 2011 10:01:59 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-23-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-16-2011.html Mon, 16 May 2011 10:01:46 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-16-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-9-2011.html Mon, 09 May 2011 10:00:30 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-9-2011.html Continue Reading →]]>

– This seems like a big deal.

– My mom calls it Net Flex too!

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-2-2011.html Mon, 02 May 2011 10:01:57 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/05/this-weeks-shared-items-may-2-2011.html Continue Reading →]]>

– This is exactly what I need for my kitchen… I’ve got a gas range on an island with no hood. $2,300 isn’t going to fly though. Not when I’m renting. ]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/04/this-weeks-shared-items-april-25-2011.html Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:02:25 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/04/this-weeks-shared-items-april-25-2011.html Continue Reading →]]>

– I guess it’s time to buy an Eye-Fi card now.

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/04/the-23-million-developmental-biology-book.html Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:14:53 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1440 Continue Reading →]]> Michael Eisen has an amusing write up about how automatic pricing algorithms drove the price for an out of print developmental biology book to reach “$23,698,655.93 (plus $3.99 shipping).” It’s well worth the quick read.

Read: it is NOT junk

Via @cascio

– This is great!

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/04/adobe-extending-desktop-applications-with-tablets.html Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:59:05 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1432 Continue Reading →]]> This is very exciting. Adobe has unveiled concepts that use touch-centric tablet devices to extend asset creation as well as control of their applications.  We’ve all thought about it, we’ve all wished for it, and now it looks like Adobe is rolling it out.

They are starting with Photoshop, releasing a multi-touch paint application, an advanced color picker (with paint mixing), and a UI extender that lets you view open documents or choose tools with the tablet. I’m most excited about the last one, since it will grant notebook users the power of a dual display workstation without the bulk of dual displays. You’ll be able to prop your iPad up on the table and transmit everything wirelessly.

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/04/this-weeks-shared-items-april-4-2011.html Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:00:12 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/04/this-weeks-shared-items-april-4-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/green-screening-with-photoshop-keyshot.html Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:52:53 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1419 Continue Reading →]]>

Chipp Walters has a nice tutorial on how to render objects from packages like Keyshot while preserving transparencies. While Keyshot and many other packages will let you render an object with an alpha channel for replacing the background of the object, the transparency does not extend to any internal transparencies on the object. In Chipp’s example, a glass light bulb is rendered with the white background solid on the inside of the orb.

Chipp outlines how to render the image with a color background, and then replace the color with transparency, just like green-screening is done in video.

This is a great trick to have up your sleeve.

Link: The Perfect Green Screen Key Effect in Photoshop

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/this-weeks-shared-items-march-21-2011.html Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:02:32 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/this-weeks-shared-items-march-21-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/this-weeks-shared-items-march-14-2011.html Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:00:10 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/this-weeks-shared-items-march-14-2011.html

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/ted-talk-fabian-hemmert-the-shape-shifting-future-of-the-mobile-phone.html Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:54:52 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1411

Interesting concepts on how a mobile device can “live” more. Technically, these concepts are a good distance off, but very interesting.

Thanks for the heads up, Ashley Vercoe.

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/03/tabbedout-could-be-free-with-your-help.html Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:54:31 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/?p=1406 Continue Reading →]]> I’ve been a big fan of TabbedOut for a while now. TabbedOut is a mobile application (for iOS and Android, currently) that lets you open, keep track of, and close out tabs at bars and restaurants with your phone. You tie your TabbedOut account to a form of payment, and your credit card never leaves your pocket. You can even leave it at home. Check out their website for an overview of the service. It’s a fairly regional thing right now, mostly in Austin, TX… but they are growing.

Advantages: Keep your card in  your pocket. Leave the bar without waiting in line to close out. This makes bar hopping MUCH easier. Especially on a busy weekend in Austin. You can close your tab, and add tip, with the tap of a button. Otherwise, all of your tabs close automatically and apply a tip at the end of the night. TabbedOut has also partnered with a few locations for drink specials. Currently, several locations give you $1/drink on Thursdays if you use TabbedOut.

Disadvantages: The main barrier to use right now is the $1 fee that the USER gets charged, per tab. When you first sign up, you get 3 free credits, and the folks at TabbedOut have been good about periodically giving users more free credits. However, the $1 charge is always what keeps my friends from trying it out. I view the $1 charge as a convenience charge for not having to wait in line to close out, and as a type of investment in a product that I would like to see succeed and spread nation-wide to a point where they quit charging the users, and start charging the establishments a small fee, much like credit cards.

So that was a lot of lead up to what I’m really talking about here… TabbedOut has said that if they get 2,000 followers by 3/10, the service will be free nation wide during SXSW. They are currently at a little over 800 followers, so this goal is easily obtainable. I hope you’ll help by following them at @TabbedOut.

@ocell We're inspired! In spirit of #tigerblood & #FF, help us reach 2k followers & TabbedOut is free 4 users everywhere (175 venues) 4 SXSW

— TabbedOut (@TabbedOut) March 4, 2011

I mentioned that while free durring SXSW was a good step, it would be really great if the service was always free. They replied with a new challenge: 10,000 followers by 3/10 and the service is free, forever. Now, THAT would be great. I know that they have raised quite a bit of money from investors, so I’d hope that such a move wouldn’t close the business down, but instead cause growth across the nation as the last barrier to user adoption goes away.

OK – 10K followers by 12 am 3.10.11 & FREE 4 USERS FOREVER!! RT @ocell: @TabbedOut Free 4 #SXSW gr8! I hope it can be free all the time.

— TabbedOut (@TabbedOut) March 4, 2011

So help out and follow @TabbedOut, spread the word, and maybe we can see this handy service spread across the country.

Appleâ€s “Greedy and Unjustifiable” In-App Purchase Rules

]]> http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/02/this-weeks-shared-items-february-21-2011.html Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:04:04 +0000 http://www.ocell.net/blog/2011/02/this-weeks-shared-items-february-21-2011.html

]]>